The Lord has been reminding me lately of a truth I know well, but still sometimes forget.  It is the authority with which we speak as children of God.  Sometimes my prayers feel powerless and my commands seem to have little impact.  Sometimes I begin to forget who I am in Christ and feel totally ineffective. I begin to feel as if my words don’t matter. Sometimes I need a refresher course in the power God has entrusted to his people. 

The first chapter of Jeremiah is incredibly instructive about the power of our words.  Early in the chapter, God reveals to Jeremiah, “Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you, before you were born, I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations” (Jer.1:5).  Like many others called by God, Jeremiah’s first response was, “I do not know how to speak; I am too young!” Moses, Gideon, Jeremiah, and others strenuously objected when God called them to their destiny.  Each felt inadequate.  Each was acutely aware of his weakness.

But then God goes on to say, “Do not say, ‘I am too young.  You must go to everyone I send you and say whatever I command you…I have put my words in your mouth. See. today I appoint you over nations and kingdoms to uproot and tear down, to destroy and over throw, to build and to plant’” (Jer. 1:7-10).  

As you read the remained for the book, you discover that Jeremiah never led an army or directed a revolution.  Yet, by simply declaring the words of the Lord, he launched initiatives in the heavenly realms that tore down nations and built them up.  God could have certainly done those things without any prophet declaring them.  But God chose to use men to whom he had given authority on this earth. God waited on his people to declare what he was going to do before he would do it.  God honors the authority he has given us.

Remember, God’s original intent was to give men who represented Him dominion and authority over all the works of his hands (Ps. 8:6). Jesus demonstrated that perfectly in his ministry.  He walked in the Father’s authority to heal the sick, raise the dead, cast out demons, multiply bread and fish, and still the squalls of the Sea of Galilee…with words.  Then he gave authority to his disciples, who also healed the sick, raised the dead and cast out demon…with words. Jesus then declared that those who would follow and believe in him would not only do what he had been doing but would do even greater things (Jn.14:12).…with words.

As followers of Jesus, our words have power and authority.  But how often do we feel helpless and weak.  In a sense, just as Jeremiah recognized his own inadequacy, we too are inadequate by ourselves.  But, like Jeremiah, God makes us adequate by giving us and our words authority and backing up that authority with the power of heaven.  Our failure is to focus on our own abilities rather than His.

When we pray, we pray with authority.  When we command demons, we do so with authority.  When we command illness, we do so with authority.  Certainly, the outcome is not always immediate or automatic.  ‘There are many times we must contend for the outcome with persistence, faith, and fervor.  But when we are aligned with God’s word and will, then it is his word going forth from our mouths just as it was with Jeremiah. Then the promise is that whenever God’s word goes forth, it always fulfills its purpose.  

In the moments when you feel weak and are on the verge of giving up, remember who you are and the authority God has granted you. His word does the work, but we are the ones who must declare it. As followers of Jesus, we walk in authority.  When we are aligned with the Father, heaven heeds our words and the spiritual realm moves on our behalf. The key to authority is believing that we possess it as representative of Christ on the earth. From time to time, I encourage you to refresh your faith and remember who you are because of Him.

Reading through Genesis once again, I was struck by God’s call on Abram.  “The Lord had said to Abram, “Leave your country, your people and your father’s household and go to the land I will show you. “I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you” (Gen. 12:1-3).

In essence, God commanded Abram to cut ties with everything that defined who he was.  We don’t know with certainty, but it was likely he and his family had significant standing in his community.  Like all of us, his sense of significance was rooted in his culture, his relationships, and his reputation.  God was calling Abram to give up everything that had defined him and that had given his life significance and security to make a journey where he had never gone before. 

I’m not sure what motivated Abram to walk away from his country, his people and his father’s household, but thankfully he did. Perhaps, it was simply an uncommon wisdom that chose the greater thing. Look at the promise.  If you will walk away from everything that anchors you to this world, I will make you great in heaven. I will bless you and the world through you.  I will make your name great and your descendants uncountable. God was offering Abram a new identity, a greater identity than he had ever known.  But to take on this new identity, he had to surrender everything that defined who he was before his encounter with God.

In the same way, Jesus calls each of us to uproot ourselves from this world to seek his kingdom: 

“Anyone who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; and anyone who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it” (Mt. 10:37-39). 

“But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well” (Matt. 6:33)

“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Matt. 6:19-21).

For us to find greatness in heaven and to receive the true riches of the kingdom, we must be willing to walk away from country, people, households, riches, and reputation rooted in this world. Too often, we want to maintain our love and status with the things this world offers and simply tack on our identity in Christ.  We think we can keep one foot in the world and one in the kingdom, but Jesus declares we cannot serve two masters.

I typically cringe every time a celebrity “comes to Christ” and suddenly is given celebrity status by some Christian leader.  It typically ends poorly and reflects negatively on our faith because they bask in the limelight of their “new life” in Christ for a while, but then are entangled in the same old sins they had been walking in before.  Part of the failure is that no one has been discipling the new believer and no one has told him/he that, compared to Jesus, they must hate their old life and old ways. 

In all of this, I’m not saying that a believer must walk away from any measure of success or influence they have achieved in the world, but must be willing to do so if God calls them out of that. Certainly, if they are involved in careers and pursuits that are sinful, they must give that up and trust God to provide as they build a new life in the kingdom.  

Here is our self-check.  Are we investing in our spiritual life and eternity in heaven significantly more than in this world? Like Abram, have we uprooted ourselves from the world and planted ourselves, our identity, and out significance firmly in heaven? Am I more concerned about how God views me or how people view me, especially those who don’t follow Jesus? 

I have seen a lot of successful people who see themselves as faithful Christians but who pursue wealth and the accolades of this world much more that serving in the kingdom. For some, if they were judged on the basis of their Facebook posts, there would be little indication that thy had made the body of Christ and the kingdom of heaven a greater priority than all the pleasures offered by the world. God wants to be our greatest desire and not simply an afterthought when it is convenient.  From time to time, we may want to evaluate how far we have left the world behind and how far we have travelled in our journey with Christ. 

Our God is a jealous God.  He wants to bless us but not share us with the gods of this world. I believe he wants to bless us and others through us as he did Abraham.  He wants us to produce spiritual descendants for the kingdom of heaven.  He wants us to trust him in the journey by holding loosely anything that is anchored in this world.  We may not recognize how tied to this world we are, so I encourage you to ask the Holy Spirit and spiritual friends to point out any blind spots so that we might surrender those to the Lord as well.  Ultimately, like Abraham we will choose who we trust in and what we trust in.  Hopefully, we will make the same decision as Abram did when he encountered God.

I’m convinced that the great majority of mankind struggles daily with the little voice that constantly whispers, You don’t matter and what you do doesn’t matter.” The exponential increase in diagnosed depression and suicide rates over the past decade would seem to confirm that theory.

When we feel that we don’t matter, we feel that we have no value. The rush to find alternate identities in today’s world is, I think, a clear side effect of feeling worthless and having no compelling purpose for our life. If I feel worthless as the person I am, perhaps, I can find worth in another identity or, at least, in a group with a strong identity that I might share. So, we see teens and young adults discarding the gender identity God gave them and opting for another. In a world where transgenders have taken on celebrity status, it’s no wonder that many young people are attaching themselves to that wave in an effort to feel special or revolutionary. The thought makes them feel as if they matter. The problem is that is doesn’t work..at least, not for long. Suicide rates for transexuals are much higher than the rest of the population. Gender is really not the issue. Trying to find value, meaning, and love is the driving force behind nearly everything man does or tries.

For those that don’t opt to try a new gender identity, it seems that many are attempting to find identity by partnering with political groups driven by a world view that those in their party have been cheated and abused by a world that makes it impossible for them to succeed or find happiness. There is a certain feeling of power that comes with anger, rage, blaming others, and burning buildings. For a while, that feeling of empowerment and belonging will bolster an identity, but it won’t last because it is all external. After a while, the “victim card” simply makes us feel more alienated and even more disempowered rather than valuable. After that realization, comes depression, medicating and, perhaps, suicide.

One off the great blessings of the gospel is the evidence that we do matter. Our life does have purpose. Someone loves us so much that he has invested everything in us, including the suffering and death of his own Son The problem is that many believers still feel worthless. I think that is because we can feel loved as a group, but not as an individual. What I mean by that is we think that God loves all of his children generically…as a group. It’s like when celebrities declare their love for all their fans…but wouldn’t know one if they bumped into them on the street. When I think of God loving the world…I may still feel like just a face in the crowd. That is why I need to know that God knows me and loves me as a unique individual and has invested himself in me and my personal destiny from before the foundation of the world.

I love Psalms 139. David wrote, “For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be. How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them” (Ps. 139:13-17)

We are so personally known by God that he was involved in our very creation. It seems that at the moment of conception, God establishes an identity in us. Yes…he chooses our gender but also our personality, our temperament, and our talents. Then, he shapes our purpose by establishing a unique future that fits the individual God has made us to be. It is impressive that God has taken the time to craft a future for us that will bless us and others, and has written everyday of that future in a book in heaven before we are ever born. That already is a huge investment of thought, time, and energy that God has poured into each of us individually.

In addition, one possible translation of the phrase,”How precious to me are your thoughtsS O God,” is “How precious are your thoughts about me, O God! How vast is the sum of them.” Contextually, that fits very well with the David’s thought. God dreams us, designs us, creates us, and lays out a future for us even before birth. After that, he thinks about us all the time as any loving parent thinks about their child. Of course, the future that has been laid out for us is a “potential future” that depends on our decisions.

Not only that, but God is so invested in us and our individual lives, that he gave his only begotten Son as a sacrifice for our sins, so that we could fulfill his purposes for us and know his love forever. He has also had to chase down many of us who ran from him as prodigals if he were the enemy. Think about how much time, energy, and resources God spent keeping you alive until he could chase you down and draw you back to him. Angels have been assigned to you, hundreds of “divine appointments” have been arranged and orchestrated, and thousands of prayers have been answered. He has deposited his Spirit in you who has made you better and has delivered you from yourself and the enemy time and again. Jesus has even gone to prepare a place just for you and will come back and take you with him…and he will know your name without a roster or a name tag. He will know everything about you – all your hurts, hopes, and successes.

God has given us both identity and value in abundance if we will simply open ourselves up to him. Jesus said that the Father not only knows our name, but even the number of hairs on our head. Satan is the one who steals and hides our identity, and then coaxes us to search for it in every place but the only place we can truly find it. If we don’t know who we are, we should ask the one who made us rather than a world that has rebelled.

If the world had the answer, depression, suicide, and homicide would be on the decrease rather than the increase. War would be known only in history books. If the world had the answer, celebrities would be the happiest and healthiest people in the world…but as a whole they are miserable and insecure…medicating, overdosing, failing at multiple marriages, and still in desperate search of something that gives their peace and lasting meaning.

Identity is the key to a fulfilling life…knowing who we are and why we are is everything. If we read scripture with an eye to who we are in Christ, the realization that we are unique children of God – loved, valued, and known since before the creation of the world – will bring us into a place of worth and security that the entire world is desperately looking for. Only God can truly tell you who you are and why you are. Listen to him!